1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of dental appliances and in particular to dental wedges for interproximal insertion to facilitate the use matrix bands.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a cavity in a tooth is filled with an amalgam, it has been the practice in the prior art to insert a dental wedge between the teeth to faciliate the insertion of a matrix band over the tooth to be treated. Without such a matrix band, the soft amalgam alloy or silicon cement will flow out the open proximal side of the cavity. The dental wedge serves to spread the teeth to allow the insertion of the matrix band. The great variety of dental wedges which have been devised to meet this problem indicates not only the importance of this device, but the number of attempted solutions attests to the lack of a satisfactory, simple and practical wedge which has yet to be devised.
In particular, these prior art wedges have included various forms of triangular wedges, some with concave surfaces such as shown by Meacham, "Dental Wedge," U.S. Pat. No. 2,867,905; Walthall, "Dental Wedge," U.S. Pat. No. 3,510,948; Eames, "Wedge for Dental Matrix Bands," U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,243; Tofflemire, "Teeth Separating Wedges for Use During Filling Operations," U.S. Pat. No. 3,636,631; Burlew, "Tooth Wedge," U.S. Pat. No. 1,568,054; Dockum, "Tool for Inserting Dental Wedges," U.S. Pat. No. 3,096,585; and Arlers, et al, "Dentists' Wedge," U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,226. These prior art devices have various contours but each is characterized by a sculptured portion of the wedge, used for driving the teeth apart, which is generally characterized by a triangular or near triangular cross section perpendicular to the elongated, longitudinal axis of the wedge. As shown in Arlers, the triangular shaped wedge is placed between the band and tooth. However, one of the purposes of the wedge is to facilitate spreading of the teeth so that the matrix band can be more easily inserted. Eames, Walthall and Meacham each show a wedge with a triangular cross section in immediate contact with the matrix band. Thus, the matrix band and wedge have to be placed over and between the teeth respectively, more or less at the same time and worked into position as best as possible.
What is needed is a dental wedge which has a shape which will spread the teeth and yet allow easy insertion of the matrix band between the teeth after insertion of the wedge. Further, what is needed is a dental wedge which has a design less likely to cause cutting, tearing, bruising or other damage to the adjacent soft tissues of the gum and, which incorporates a means for inhibiting bleeding.